First of all – how are you all? Very often during the day – especially when scrolling through social media perhaps – I think of some of our lovely loyal customers and I miss you all SO much. Sending you big hugs wherever you are and whatever you are doing.
I know that many of you are at work, whether that is as keyworkers in whatever capacity, or at home whilst also perhaps schooling your children. Others of you are alone all day, perhaps unable to go out and struggling with feeling lonely and isolated. For many of us our income has been significantly reduced, and then there is the disappointment of holidays, weddings, parties and other celebrations cancelled.
As someone has said on social media, we are not all in the same boat but we are all in the same storm. It may appear to be easier for some than others but we never know what is going on under the surface. Those living in beautiful spacious homes may have underlying health issues or relationship difficulties. Those seemingly successful business people may have many staff dependant on them for employment, the worry of which keeps them awake at night. And the apparently wealthy may have their money invested in companies whose shares have fallen drastically meaning they have no income. Never has it been more important to Be Kind and try not to judge.
With regard to The Kitchen, we remain closed. As the photo here shows, I have been busy cleaning and sorting things out here and I have to say it is very lonely! A few people have expressed some surprise that we are not offering takeaways or deliveries and I wanted to explain why that is.
Some bakeries are offering deliveries and collection of bread and cakes. Bread is an essential food in a way that cake is not – whatever we may say to ourselves! These bakeries are offering an essential service in delivering bread, and cakes can be easily added to these orders.
The Kitchen is small and social distancing in line with the current regulations would be a big challenge at the present time. This applies both to staff and to customers collecting. We also want to be careful and responsible in not encouraging anyone to make an unnecessary journey.
We do not have a delivery vehicle and the use of third party operators such as Deliveroo is costly. We are looking at delivery options but again, whilst travel is restricted to essential journeys we are looking at the best ways to operate if and when we do reopen.
Above all else we must safeguard the health and well-being of all our staff and customers whatever the circumstances, and this is our priority over and above the needs of the business.
When the restrictions are relaxed the likelihood is we will resume business with takeaway orders, placed and paid for online with agreed collection slots. Delivery may be an option if we can do this safely and within any guidelines. Please be assured we are looking at all the options as we very much miss being able to bake for you.
Meanwhile we are keen to keep in touch with everyone and our social media pages remain active. We’re gradually sharing more of our recipes and enjoy seeing photos of what everyone has been baking. We are here to answer your baking questions and if the lockdown continues much longer we will look at doing a Facebook live or perhaps even a podcast!
Thank you everyone for all your support and very kind comments and messages. We won’t even begin to pretend it’s been easy managing the challenges of the last few weeks. We are taking a day at a time and very much look forward to welcoming you all back to The Kitchen when this has passed, as we know it eventually will.